Who has been DC's Ms. Marvel-style breakout?

[Lee Stone]

Every time I read the title of the thread, I think of Carol and then Starfire.
But she's just barely been used in that capacity, And the first time she ever was, it was a fluke because Starlin wasn't allowed to use Wonder Woman in Cosmic Odyssey.
And that's not really recent.

As for Kamala...
DC hasn't really been trying in that area until recently.
Well, except for Stargirl. But with Geoff less involved, I doubt we'll see her turn up until it's to be cannon-fodder in an event.
Batgirl of Burnside was a start, but she was an established character.
Khalid Fate didn't quite hit it off with the readers.
Jaime Beetle had a bit of a push with the Brave and Bold cartoon, but he didn't catch on, either.
I think Naomi is being groomed to be DC's Kamala/Spider-Gwen/Squirrel Girl, and I suspect that as long as Bendis is at DC, she'll get a lot of screen time.

[Restingvoice]

Why is that though?
Why didn't Jaime catch on in comics but in the cartoon he's quite popular, I've seen a lot of fans
Jessica, I see her popular among Tumblr crowd but not much anywhere else so the push to DC Superhero Girls is the right idea, but a lot of characters are in DC Superhero Girls. It's not that special.

Why DC doesn't push them? Why DC drops the ball?
Is it the usual? Because they're only interested in classic characters? The Trinity, The Justice League, select characters from the Batfam, New Teen Titans adaptation, Harley, Joker...

[Electricmastro]

Yeah, in the past 10 years Harley has risen to become one of DC’s most popular characters. She’s realistically probably in the top 5 at this point and far eclipses Ms. Marvel. I saw so many Harley Quinn’s last Halloween.

And I imagine some might conclude you to be wrong because Harley doesn't have a $1 billion solo movie, but yeah, I don't think that means the other media she has been in and the impact she has had should be completely dismissed.

[Ascended]

To me Ms Marvel will always be Carol Danvers, but I'm going to assume from the question that this latest version of Ms Marvel has become popular with the Marvel fanbase

She's become a pretty big deal, yeah. She doesn't sell terribly well in floppies; the old guard comic fans seemed to look at her like an intruder, and her existence meant Carol couldn't return to the name and had to remain Captain. But Kamala sells real well in other formats like digital and trade and has been getting a solid push in comic events (she was even an Avenger for a while) as well as larger media; she's been in cartoons, video games (and is going to be a PoV character in the new Avengers game), and will be getting a Disney+ show as well, which will springboard her into the films. She also became something of a protest icon on the West coast, back when everyone was screaming about trump trying to get Muslim Americans out of the country. Her face was plastered all over California cities as a sign of solidarity. So she's becoming quite a big deal, yeah.

Why is that though?
Why didn't Jaime catch on in comics but in the cartoon he's quite popular, I've seen a lot of fans
Jessica, I see her popular among Tumblr crowd but not much anywhere else so the push to DC Superhero Girls is the right idea, but a lot of characters are in DC Superhero Girls. It's not that special.

Why DC doesn't push them? Why DC drops the ball?
Is it the usual? Because they're only interested in classic characters? The Trinity, The Justice League, select characters from the Batfam, New Teen Titans adaptation, Harley, Joker...

Simple answer is different audiences. Comic fans tend to be older and stick with the same characters they've always stuck with. Jaime was fantastic, and his first series was one of the best things DC had at the time. But fans passed on it because they were angry about Ted dying (even though no one gave a damn about him until he was six feet under). It's really, really hard to get comic fans to read anything they haven't read before, and if it's a new concept/character you better hope for a miracle.

Its easier for characters like Jaime to find success in other formats where the audience is mostly going in blind, and only have a passing familiarity with the biggest name characters like Clark and Bruce and Diana. To the average person Jaime is just another character they're experiencing for the first time, but to a lot of comic fans he's the reason Ted Kord died and some kind of usurper.

But its also DC's sh*t management. That's *at least* as much of a problem as the fanbase. Didio and co. have an idea of what *they* want the DCU to be, and seem to give little thought to the market itself or what fans want, or what might catch on with people. Didio knows they need to find new readers, but seems to think that worn out 90's aesthetics are what will get them....which is completely out of touch.

Anyway....who's DC's Ms. Marvel? I hesitate to include Harley, since she's been around for twenty years, but she's certainly the break-out success of the last decade. Cruz might fit the bill, but she hasn't had the impact Kamala has. I'm going to vote for Naomi; she's super new, with only six issues and a guest appearance under her belt, but her sales actually increased as her mini went on, which is practically unheard of in the direct market, she's gotten a ton of push from DC and Bendis, and if they can keep that momentum going she has the potential to be DC's next big breakout star. But, just like Marvel had to keep pushing Kamala and keep the pressure and focus on her for more than five seconds, DC will have to invest over time with Naomi. And DC has too much ADHD for that to look likely. Still, I hope it happens, because Naomi is awesome and deserves to be more than another missed opportunity.

[HandofPrometheus]

So much candidates but also so much squandered potential because DC is managed by morons.

[LifeIsILL]

That Chinese Superman guy

[Frontier]

Every time I read the title of the thread, I think of Carol and then Starfire.
But she's just barely been used in that capacity, And the first time she ever was, it was a fluke because Starlin wasn't allowed to use Wonder Woman in Cosmic Odyssey.
And that's not really recent.

As for Kamala...
DC hasn't really been trying in that area until recently.
Well, except for Stargirl. But with Geoff less involved, I doubt we'll see her turn up until it's to be cannon-fodder in an event.
Batgirl of Burnside was a start, but she was an established character.
Khalid Fate didn't quite hit it off with the readers.
Jaime Beetle had a bit of a push with the Brave and Bold cartoon, but he didn't catch on, either.
I think Naomi is being groomed to be DC's Kamala/Spider-Gwen/Squirrel Girl, and I suspect that as long as Bendis is at DC, she'll get a lot of screen time.

Was Stephanie Brown a Kamala-esque character? Her Batgirl tenure reminds me somewhat of Kamala's Ms. Marvel.

I only thought of her because you brought up Burnside, which always felt more Steph-based.

[Sutekh]

My first thought to compare to Ms. Marvel/Kamala would be Miss Martian/M'Gann.

[Aahz]

Imo DCs biggest break out characters in recent years were Jason Todd as Red Hood, Damian Wayne and maybe Jon Kent.

[Digifiend]

Was Stephanie Brown a Kamala-esque character? Her Batgirl tenure reminds me somewhat of Kamala's Ms. Marvel.

I only thought of her because you brought up Burnside, which always felt more Steph-based.

Steph's been around just as long as Harley has. Dates back to Tim's 90's Robin series.

[Vordan]

That Chinese Superman guy

I wish. Kenan was amazing but the minute his series was over he hasn’t shown up since except for a brief cameo in Snyder JL. I just hope he doesn’t get use as event fodder.

[Frontier]

I wish. Kenan was amazing but the minute his series was over he hasn’t shown up since except for a brief cameo in Snyder JL. I just hope he doesn’t get use as event fodder.

And a reference in Doomsday Clock.

[Lee Stone]

Was Stephanie Brown a Kamala-esque character? Her Batgirl tenure reminds me somewhat of Kamala's Ms. Marvel.

I only thought of her because you brought up Burnside, which always felt more Steph-based.

Quite possibly.
Matter of fact, that made me think of the Peter David Young Justice, which was pretty close to the right direction.

[RBerman]

There's not much incentive to take your cool new character to DC or Marvel to see if they can break out, when you could break them out yourself and still own them. So the big "new" characters of the last generation have been IP imported from other media (Harley Quinn) or resurrected older characters (Squirrel Girl) or "new" legacy characters (Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel).

This shows it can be done. There's no reason somebody couldn't write a terrific story today about Cave Carson or the Star Rovers or Ibis or Ultraa. Shayera Hol got an interesting story in Ame-Comic Girls. Mister Miracle, The Vision, and Omega Men got interesting stories from Tom King.

[RobinFan4880]

Harley Quinn is the equivalent. Her rise to prominence really started fairly recently.

Damian and Jason Todd both kind of fit, even if it was more like 15 years ago.

Jaime Reyes and Jessica Cruz are more clearly analogous to Kamala even if they are not nearly as popular.

I feel like Simon Baz could have been a really big break out star if he had premiered 5 to 10 years earlier... During the Bush administration. A Muslim with a gun saving the world would have been really impactful back then. By 2012 it was still note worthy but it did not carry the same weight it could have had.